In the last 10 years, they have won as many as 10 games just once, going 10-6 in 2007.

In the 10 years before that, when they didn’t even have a team for three years, they reached 10 wins just once, going 11-5 in 1994.

Is 10 wins in 2010 an impossible dream? The key might be finding the right combination at running backs.

Coming off spring practice, new quarterback Jake Delhomme says:

“Our focus so far has been on passing. Without pads, you can’t really make your run fits. ... But I’ll say this. (The Browns) ran the ball pretty darned well at the end of last year.”

NFL teams that make breakthroughs tend to come up with the right new combination at running back. The Bengals got a surprise year out of Cedric Benson, and unleashed a surprising rookie in Round 6 pick Bernard Scott. Those two rushed for 194 yards against the Browns in a late win that led to an AFC North title.

Along these lines, the Browns’ 4-0 finish was much more than a Jerome Harrison thing.

True, Harrison ran for a 2009 NFL-best 286 yards in a 41-34 win at Kansas City.

One week before that, though, against a much better defense, Harrison gained just 9 yards on seven runs against Pittsburgh. The key was staying with Joshua Cribbs in the wildcat — he ran eight times for 87 yards.

Chris Jennings actually had the most carries for Cleveland that day, 20 for 73 yards, one a 10-yard touchdown. A day like that is a fairly big deal for the Browns against Pittsburgh.

Remember the Jan. 5, 2003, playoff game in which William Green ran 25 times for 30 yards? Remember Jamal Lewis’ big 2007 season, the key to a 10-6 finish?

In two games against the Steelers, Lewis averaged 13 1/2 carries for 35 yards. In his 12 other full games that year, Lewis averaged 18.3 carries for 101.9 yards.

The point: When the Browns found the right running combination, they ended a 12-game losing streak to the Steelers.

The landscape has changed on multiple fronts in a running backs picture that will become clearer when the hitting starts.

Harrison, 27, was stuck behind Lewis at this time last year, and — crazy as it seems now — spent a chunk of the season behind the CFL reject, Jennings.

Lewis is gone, essentially replaced by rookie Montario Hardesty. The brass has been so full of praise for Hardesty that one can only wonder how Harrison, who mostly keeps his frustrations to himself, is taking it.

It’s complicated. While Harrison can only guess how Head Coach Eric Mangini will use him, Mangini is wondering what his new boss, team President Mike Holmgren, thinks of his tweaked approach to an offense than ranked No. 32 lasts season, even after the 4-0 surge.

Page 2 of 2 -
Look for Hardesty to have a big role. Rookie running backs tend to help teams win more than rookies at any other position.

New General Manager Tom Heckert didn’t trade up to get Hardesty so he could watch and learn. That’s for rookie quarterbacks, not runners picked in Round 2.

Delhomme likes how the passing game progressed in spring practice.

“I think we made big strides,” he said.

It’s debatable whether a team that ranked last in 2009 passing yards by a wide margin can make a quantum leap. If this offense is going anywhere, it needs a running start.

Running vision

One view of how the Browns running game will shake out in training camp if the backs stay healthy:

• Jerome Harrison will win the starting job and get a majority of the carries in the early games.

• Rookie Montario Hardesty will be counted on for a big role right away, with coaches keeping an open mind about promoting him over Harrison depending on how the early games go.

• Peyton Hillis (6-2, 250) will be considered for carries on certain downs or series but could get lost, as he did in Denver last year, if Harrison and Hardesty click as a tandem.

• James Davis and Chris Jennings will fight for their professional lives, with only one emerging with a roster spot. There will be talk about cutting loose both, but one will stick as insurance against injury.

• Fullback Lawrence Vickers will be the “linebacker-bustin’ machine” he says he is.